Numbers 35:7

Summary

The verse states the total count of cities that the Israelites are to give to the Levites: forty-eight cities in all, each accompanied by its surrounding pasture lands. It functions as a summary statement closing the preceding instructions about Levitical cities.

Key words

• kol ("all", H3605) — construct form meaning "all of/the totality of," governing "the cities" that follow; frames the verse as a summary total.
• titenu ("you will give", H5414G) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural, indicating an ongoing or future obligation placed on the addressees (the Israelites) to hand over the cities.
• arba'im ("forty", H0705) — cardinal number, masculine plural, combined with shemoneh ("eight", H8083) to form the total "forty-eight."
• migreshei ("pasture lands of", H4054) — masculine plural construct, linked by suffix to "them" (the cities), specifying the open land surrounding each city.
• hen ("their/them", H9039/H9029) — feminine plural pronominal suffixes attached to the object markers, referring back to the feminine noun 'arim ("cities").

What the text says

The verse opens with kol-he'arim ("all the cities"), a construct chain that sets up a total count as the topic of the sentence. The relative clause asher titenu la-leviyyim ("which you will give to the Levites") specifies which cities are meant — those designated in the preceding verses. The verb titenu is imperfect, consistent with legal or instructional Hebrew style expressing a standing directive rather than a single completed act.

The numerical phrase arba'im u-shemoneh 'ir ("forty and eight city") uses the singular noun 'ir after the compound number, following the common Hebrew pattern of pairing a numeral with a singular noun even when the reference is plural. The sentence then restates the object explicitly with two direct-object markers: et-hen ("them," referring to the cities) and ve-et-migreshei-hen ("and their pasture lands"). This repetition of the object marker before each item is a feature of Hebrew syntax that clarifies two distinct objects — the cities themselves and their surrounding lands — as jointly given, rather than treating "pasture lands" as a mere modifier of "cities."

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) renders the clause with a finite verb "you will give" (δώσετε) attached directly to "all the cities," structuring it as one continuous command, while the Hebrew separates the total count ("forty-eight cities") from the initial general statement ("all the cities which you will give") through the relative clause. The Vulgate (Clementine), as provided, preserves only the numeral summary ("that is, together forty-eight, with their suburbs") without repeating the verb "give," reading as a concluding tally rather than a full clause.